


promises, promises

by giveupgetdown



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Homeless Jughead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 04:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10210070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giveupgetdown/pseuds/giveupgetdown
Summary: Sheriff Keller doesn’t know the whole story. Jason may have participated in bullying Jughead but he was also the only one that Jughead had been able to trust recently.





	

Sheriff Keller tries to intimidate him. He tries to get him to admit that poor Jughead couldn’t take Jason’s bullying and that something inside him snapped; that the boy from the wrong side of the tracks had too much baggage and he couldn’t carry it anymore. So he turned to murder.

Jughead’s terrified sitting in the interrogation room of the police station but he still has to keep himself from laughing.

If Jughead did anything to Jason it would be thanking him.

Somehow, out of all the people in Riverdale, Jason was the only person who didn’t let him down.

 

Jughead finds out about Jason by accident.

It was five days after his mom left and took Jellybean with her. Jughead’s searching through his parent’s closet trying to find anything that belonged to her. Unfortunately, his mom has cleared out the closet, taking away any trace of her presence and Jughead has to bite his lip to keep from screaming. He gives up and collapses on the couch, staring at the black screen in front of him and wishing Jelly was there and coloring while watching tv. He looks at the table. Instead of coloring books and crayons there are empty beer cans. Jughead kicks them off the table in anger. He doesn’t even know where the hell his dad is. The last he saw of him was when one of the Serpents dragged his already drunk body out of the trailer, talking about how he needed a real night out. Jughead sighs and put his shoes on and heads out the door. As he walks over to Lou's house he wonders what his mom and Jelly are doing at this very moment.

He knocks on the door and one of Lou’s lady friend answers. Lou sleeps around too much that it’s hard to determine if it’s his girlfriend.

“Is FP Jones here?” Jughead asks.

“Who wants to know?” The lady says, and Jughead looks at her in annoyance.

“His son,” Jughead snaps, and the lady looks at him for a few more seconds before opening the door wider for Jughead to walk in.

“He’s somewhere,” she grumbles, and leaves him standing in front of the closed door. Jughead hears talking from the living room and walks over.

He expects to find his dad lounging on the couch, holding a beer in his hand and going off on some drunken rant to other Serpent members. Instead he finds Lou talking to a boy his age with bright red hair.

The two sense his presence and look up at him.

Lou looks pissed that they’ve been interrupted. Jason looks like a ghost. His eyes are wide and his body freezes.

“Can’t you see I’m busy here?” Lou glares.

Jughead and Jason are still staring at each other until Jughead’s eyes move downward to the baggie that Jason’s holding in his hand.

“Did you hear me kid?” Lou says, “I’m busy.”

“I’m just looking for my dad,” Jughead explains, “Last I saw he was leaving our place with you.”

“He’s not here,” Lou tells him.

Jughead nods and gives one last glance at Jason before turning around to leave. He’s opening the front door when Lou shouts, “Why don’t you try Mike’s place?”

“Thanks,” Jughead replies and leaves the house.

The next day at school Jughead is slammed against the gym lockers by Jason as the rest of the student head into the gym.

“What were you doing yesterday?” Jason asks.

Jughead pushes Jason off of him. “I can say the same to you,” he replies.

Jason glares at him. “Why would your dad be at a Serpent’s house?”

Jughead laughs. “Why would _you_ be at a Serpent’s house?”

Jason tries to maintain himself. “I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised,” he smirks, “You are one of the biggest losers at Riverdale High. Like father like son, huh?”

“Says the kid who stooped so low that they’re buying drugs from the Serpents,” Jughead scoffs.

Jason slams Jughead against the locker once again. “You tell anyone what you saw yesterday and I’ll shove your head in a toilet in front of the whole football team,” he growls.

“Such a typical threat,” Jughead says. “Your secret is safe with me. Now get the hell off of me.”

Jason lets go and Jughead straightens out his shirt just in time for Coach to come into the locker and yell at them for not being with the rest of the students.

 

Jughead makes it through the week even though it's hell. The taunts and jokes towards him that Jason and the rest of the football team make start getting crueler. He ignores it and just keeps his promise. He doesn’t tell anyone that Jason Blossom buys drugs from the Southside Serpents. He doesn’t even think about Jason. He lies awake at night thinking about how big the bed feels without Jelly’s body being sprawled across it as they sleep. He thinks about how quiet the kitchen is in the mornings without his mother to hum songs as she get ready for the day. He thinks about how this trailer doesn’t feel like home and that is hasn’t felt like home in a long time.

He decides to leave.

Somehow he isn’t surprised when Jason’s the one who finds him in the locker room on Monday at six in the morning. Maybe he’s accepted the fact that his life is just going to keep going downhill.

Jason puts his bag down and stares at Jughead.

“This is turning into one of those romantic comedies,” Jughead jokes after spitting his toothpaste in the sink. “We’re running into each other by accident now but give it a few days and suddenly we’ll realize we’re doing it on purpose.”

Jason shakes his head. “You’re so damn weird,” he says, opening his bag and putting his gym clothes on the bench. “What are you even doing here?” Jason wonders. “You don’t seem like the type to go for a morning run. Can you even run longer than five seconds without getting out of breath?”

Jughead gathers his toothbrush and toothpaste.  “Just pretend you didn’t see me,” he replies, and is about to walk towards the locker room exit when Jason stands in front of him.

“Seriously Donnie Darko what are you doing here?”

Jughead is tired after not being able to get comfortable during the night on the floor of the utility closet and can’t think of a witty response. “I didn’t see you holding a bag of drugs in a Serpent’s living room and you didn’t see me brushing my teeth in the school locker room,” he says instead, and looks at Jason for approval.

“Whatever,” Jason mumbles as he pushes past Jughead to walk to the bathrooms.

In the utility closet Jughead gathers his belongings and stuffs them into his big backpack. He hides it behind some of the supplies and grabs his school bag. He walks to the outdoor benches and sees Jason running laps on the track field.

Surprisingly, Jason keeps his word. He jokes about the usual things to the football team but makes no mention of the fact that Jughead’s been sleeping in the school utility closet.

It’s a strange sense of comradery that neither boy understands but doesn’t bother to question.

 

When school lets out for the summer Jughead brings his backpack over to the Twilight. It’s a place filled with old memories of his family being together and it makes Jughead forget that he can’t remember the last time the entire Jones family was there. The owner is delighted to give Jughead a summer job. “I remember when you and your sister were just youngsters,” she smiles. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen her. How are she and your mom doing?” He gives her a vague responds and says that they’re doing fine. Then he asks when he can start work.

He works every day to make it easier to sneak to the projection area each night. It’s a Tuesday afternoon when he sees a familiar red head walking towards where the Serpents like to hang out while at the Twilight. Jughead sits on the ground and eats his lunch as he watches one of the guys talk with Jason and hand him another baggie. Jason doesn’t realize he’s been watched until he’s walking away and spots Jughead. He hides the baggie in his backpack and goes over to him.

“You find a new home?” Jason asks, pointing to the projection building behind him.

“Are you still on drugs?” Jughead mutters, getting up and walking into the projection area.

Jason follows. He puts his bag on the ground and says, “I’m not using them, you know.”

Jughead laughs to himself. “Like that makes it any better,” he replies.

“You know who is using them?” he questions, and Jughead shrugs, getting film ready for the next movie showing.

“Plenty of Serpents are users, obviously,” Jason says, “There’s one in particular. He goes by FP.”

Jughead stops working at the mention of his father. He turns around and sees that Jason is smirking. “Awww, did you not know?”

Jughead turns back to the film reels. He shouldn’t be surprised that his father isn’t just drinking but deep down it hurts to find out and he won’t let Jason taunt him for it.

 “Actually I did know,” Jughead pretends, “so you can stop acting like you’ve got something on me. You might not be using them but you’re still buying them. I guess you two are in the same boat.”

“You don’t know anything about me, freak,” Jason argues.

“I don’t want to know anything about you,” Jughead yells, “in fact I’d like to forget about our little interactions so why don’t you just leave now.”

Jason scoffs and picks up his bag, walking out of the building and slamming the door shut behind him.

Jughead smiles at the thought of how easy it will be to ignore Jason. Football practice starts up again and except for Archie mentioning him when he talks about practice Jason is no longer a problem in his life.

Unfortunately nothing ever goes the way Jughead wants it to and Jason returns a few weeks later. Jughead’s walking back to the projection building after collecting his paycheck. He hears yelling coming from the Serpent’s usual spot and sees Jason and a few Serpents arguing. His dad is one of them. Jason looks at him in the distance as he walks into the projection building and about fifteen minutes later Jason’s in there with him.

“Has anyone ever told you that your dad is an asshole?” Jason asks, and Jughead tries to hide his laugh.

“He’s deep in debt,” Jughead informs Jason, “so I guess he has the right to be an asshole.”

“Is that why you’re sleeping here instead of at home?” Jason asks.

Jughead’s sitting on his mattress and he raises his eye at Jason’s question.

“What’s this? Does Jason Blossom actually care about little ole Jughead?” he teases.

Instead of defending himself Jason just shrugs.

“Was it a hard decision to make?” He asks, and sits down at the chair at the desk next to Jughead’s mattress.

“I had to do what was right for me,” Jughead replies.

Jason nods. “I’m selling the drugs,” he confesses. “I need money to leave home.”

“Why?”

Jason shakes his head. “You don’t need to know the details,” he says. He gets up from the chair and picks up his backpack. “Forget I said anything,” he demands, “You know the deal. This never happened." Jughead nods and Jason leaves him alone in confusion.

 

Jughead gets a phone call from his mom on a Saturday afternoon. He’s setting up for a kid’s movie when his phone rings and her name appears on the screen.

"Mom?" 

"Forsythe," she says, her voice as gentle as he remembers. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Jughead lies, "Are you and Jellybean okay?"

"We're at your grandparents. We're doing fine."

There's a pause before Jughead answers. The question of _why didn't you take me too?_ lingers in his mind. “Dad’s getting worse each day,” Jughead admits, and his mom sighs.

“I’m sorry for leaving, baby,” she apologizes, "but we'll be home soon."

He hears his sister in the background and his mom lets her get on the line. Jughead has to close his eyes to stop the tears from falling. He missed their voices so damn much.

"We have to go, sweetie," his mom tells him, "but I promise you we'll be home soon."

Jughead believes her for awhile. They continue their phone calls weekly until his mom starts making excuses for why she can't talk. Eventually he stops calling. Archie gives him an apologetic look. "Let's go on a road trip," he suggests. "It'll take your mind off of it. It'll be fun."

Glady's and Jellybean never return to Riverdale. Archie ends up bailing on their road trip.

The only one who is true to their word is Jason Blossom and he stays true until the bitter end.


End file.
